Portable lamp



L. W. YOUNG.

PORTABLE LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1918.

1,352,862, PatentedSept. 14, 1920.

INVENTOR A TTOR/VEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOBIN'. w. rooms, or NEW roan, n. Y.

PORTABLE LAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pate ited Sept. 14, 1920.

Application filed May 3, 1918. Serial No. 282,195.

. ments in Portable Lamps, of which the fol-' lowing is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to illuminating devices and is directed, in its more specific features, to improvements in portable fixtures, such as floor and table lamps.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved ornamental lighting fixture which controls and modifies the rays fromthe illuminant to produce an especially uniform and agreeable light distribution.

A further object is to provide an improved portable electric lamp, of the more expensive type, in which all the light rays are Well diffused to insure complete absence of glare or shadow and by which a soft and decorative lighting efl'ect is obtained with a minimum current cost.

Other objects and advantages of the invention'will be in part noted hereinafter in connection with the following description of the accompanying drawing which illustrates a typical embodiment of the invention and in which- Figure 1 is a side view, half in elevation and half in section, of a table lamp; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of thediffusing reflector and supporting frame or bracket shown in Fig. 1. I p

- The lamp illustrated comprises, in eneral, a vase standard 1 with a conceale incandescent element 2 and a reflector 3 arranged to direct the light rays upwardly against a diffusing reflector 4 supported by a frame 5. An ornamental translucent shade 6 fitsabout the reflector 4 and spreads downwardly to substantially the upper horizontal plane of the vase 1 in such a relation that all y of the rays emerge from the lamp after having been filtered through the shade or diffused from the inner surface of the latter and from reflector 4.

' Referring more specifically to the drawing, the standard 1', preferably in the form of a vase as shown, constitutes a support for 55 the light socket 7 and also the cupped reflector 3. The latter for this purpose may have its flaring open end provided with a flange 8 WhlCll seats on the upper edge of the vase and therefore centers the reflector,-

as well as closes the vase body a ainst the entry of foreign matter. A suita le switch 9 to control the light may be mounted where desired, for example, at the bottom of the standard. The reflector 3 is opaque and provided with a reflecting or diffusln surface. Its shape may vary in detail, ut it is curved to direct upwardly the light rays against the diffusing surface of the inverted conical reflector 4 which is positioned thereabove with its apex in substantial alinement I with the center of the illuminating element 2. The reflector 4, moreover, preferably has its surface of 'a dull or mat white to insure thorough diffusion of the rays which impinge thereon and to modify or soften the lighting effect.

The frame or bracket 5 includes a lower ring 10 which snugly fitsthe upper end of the vase and rests upon the annular flange 8 of the reflector 3. Fixed at equi-distant intervals to the ring 10 are three (more or less) rising arms 11 in turn supporting and as well secured to the upper reflector 4. With such an'assembly it will be noted that the frame 5 possesses rigidity and strength and that the frame and upper reflector are in a sense unitary.- A convenient construction of the reflector 4, as shown in the drawing, comprises its integral formation with an upper ledge 12 constituting a seat to receive the contracted neck 13 of the shade 6.

The shade also, for certain preferred purposes of the invention, requires special construction and material. That is to say, it is an object to attain complete difl'usion of the light which emerges below the lamp in the reading area, while at the same time securing a decorative appearance of the fixture and a soft blending or diflusion of the-rays in all directions. To accomplish this end, me it is found desirable to employ a silken shade made in two thicknesses; that is, with an outer layer of silk fabric 14, which may be shirred or otherwise ornamented, and an inner fabric or lining 15, which is stretched tight on its frame to lie smoothly. The lining is also preferably of silk and white in color, so that a major portion of the light rays impinging thereon are reflected downwardly and only a minor ortion of the rays transmitted therethroug and through the outer fabric 14. For speclal purposes,

however, both the diffusing reflector 4 and the inner fabric 15 of the shade may be lightly tinted in color to thereby modify the quality of the light emerging from the lamp.

It will be noted that the lamp described yields no' direct rays from the illuminant; that is to say, the major portion of the light after diffusion spreads about the base in the so-called reading area, and that portion which penetrates the shade has already been diffused from the reflector 4 and filtered through the silk. It is further contemplated by the invention to select material for the shade of such quality in translucency that the rays will merge in degree all about the fixture; in other words, so that no sharp lines or shadows will separate the reading area from that above. 1t is also to be noted that the upper reflector 4: and the diffusing inner surface of the shade disperse the light rays so that no shadows are cast by the bracket arms 11 or other opaque parts or objects which might be positioned within the shade.

While as above described the invention is particularly designed for embodiment in portable lamps, it is to be noted that certain of the advantageous features thereof could as well be employed in other types of fixtures. For example, the cupped, polished reflector 3 inclosing the illuminant might be suspended from above with the upper reflector 4 and shade 6 (in such instance the latter preferably extending farther toward the lower plane of the reflector 2) arranged substantially as shown to constitute a pend- I ent fixture.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. In a portable lamp, in combination, a standard, an illuminant supported thereby, an opaque cupped reflector about said illuminant arranged to intercept the direct rays below the upper horizontal plane of said illuminant and to direct such rays upwardly, an opaque diffusing reflector above and in alinement with said illuminant to direct laterally the rays impinging thereon, a translucent silk shade laterally concealing said diffusing reflector, said shade having a mat inner lining adapted to direct downwardly a major portion of the rays impinging thereon, and a bracket supported by said standard and supporting said diffusing reflector and said shade.

2. In a portable lamp, in combination, a vase-like standard, an illuminant concealed therein below the up er horizontal plane thereof, a cupped polished reflector about said illuminant to direct rays upwardly, a diffusing reflector arranged above said 1lluminant to direct rays' outwardly, a translucent silk shade laterally concealing said diffusing reflector and spreading downwardly to substantially the upper plane of said standard, said shade having a mat white lining to direct a major portion of the rays downwardly, and means concealed by said shade to support the latter and said diffusing reflector.

3. In a portable lamp, in combination, a vase-like standard, an illuminant mounted therein below the upper horizontal plane thereof, a cupped polished reflector about said illuminant to direct rays upwardly, a diffusing reflector above and in alinement with said illuminant and having a mat white surface to direct rays outwardly, a translucent silk shade fitting about and laterally concealing said diffusing reflector, said shade having a mat white lining to direct a major portion of the rays downwardly, and a bracket detachaby mounted on said standard and concealed by said shade to support the latter and said diffusing reflector.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LORIN W. YOUNG. 

